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Background: There are no validated instruments in Spain for measuring parental feeding styles. The aim was to validate the Parental Feeding Styles Questionnaires (PFSQ) in a Spanish sample. Method: A total of 523 mothers of 523 school-children participated. The children had a mean age of 4.4 years (SD = 1.3), with 51% being boys (M = 4.3 years, SD = 1.4) and 49% girls (M = 4.5 years, SD = 1.3). The PFSQ and the Comprehensive General Parenting Styles Questionnaire (CGPQ) were used. Results: A model of four correlated factors was identified: Prompting/encouraging eating, emotional feeding, instrumental feeding, and control over eating. Cronbach's alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, and McDonald's Omega coefficient ranged from 0.66 to 0.86. Emotional feeding and prompting/encouraging eating had values above 0.70, control over eating had a value of 0.68 and instrumental feeding had an alpha coefficient of 0.64 and omega coefficient of 0.66. The factor structure was similar to the original and to other adapted versions. The Spanish sample used more control over eating and prompting/encouraging to eat. Conclusions: The adapted PFSQ is a suitable instrument for assessing the feeding styles of Spanish parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the validity, reliability, and factor structure of the child and parent versions of The Function Disability Inventory (FDI) in the children with chronic pain and their parents. Materials and Methods: The sample consists of 112 pairs of children (7-12 years) and parents selected through convenient sampling from child hospitals in Tehran in 2017 to 2018. The Function Disability Inventory (FDI), KIDScreen, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self Report (YSR), and Visual Analogous Scale (VAS) were implemented. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to obtain the findings. Results: The reliability results of FDI showed that the Cronbach's alpha of the child and parent versions were 0.89 and 0.90, respectively, which indicates high alpha coefficients. Also, many run twice correlations of child and parent versions obtained in a significant and acceptable range (0.53 to 0.93). Also, the convergent and divergent validity of the parent version showed that the parent version has a negative correlation with the quality of life subscales (-0.08 to - 0.20) and with the CBCL subscales (0.30 to 0.35) and also the visual similarity scale (0.15), has a positive and significant correlation. The exploratory factor analysis identified four factors in the child's version and three factors in the parent's version, and in the confirmation factor analysis, the fitting of these new factors were confirmed. Conclusion: Function Disability Inventory has proper psychometric features in the population of children with chronic pain and their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is shown that in general the popular coefficient alpha estimator for reliability of multi-component measuring instruments converges almost surely to a quantity that is not equal to the population reliability coefficient. This convergence with probability 1 is a stronger statement than convergence in probability (consistency) and convergence in distribution for the alpha estimator, which have been studied in the past. In the special case of congeneric measures with uncorrelated errors and equal loadings on the common true score, the alpha estimator converges almost surely to the population reliability coefficient that equals population alpha, which implies also its consistency as a reliability estimator. When the loadings are unequal but sufficiently high and similar, the alpha estimator converges almost surely to population alpha that is essentially indistinguishable from the population reliability coefficient, which implies alpha's approximate consistency then. For the general case, the results entail that the alpha estimator is not a consistent estimator of reliability. The findings add to the critical literature on coefficient alpha in the general case, as well as to the justification of its use as a dependable measuring instrument reliability estimator in special cases and settings resulting under appropriate restrictive conditions, and are illustrated using a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern finance theory and investment practice have shifted toward "passive investing." The current consensus is that most savers should invest in mutual funds or ETFs that are (i) well-diversified, (ii) low-cost, and (iii) expose their portfolios to age-appropriate stock market risk. The law governing trustees, investment advisers, broker--dealers, 401(k) plan managers, and other investment fiduciaries has evolved to push them gently toward this consensus. But these laws still provide broad scope for fiduciaries to recommend that clients invest instead in specific assets that they believe will produce "alpha" by outperforming the market. Seeking alpha comes at a cost, however, in giving up some of the benefits of the well-diversified, low-cost, appropriate-risk baseline. Too little attention has been given in fiduciary law to this tradeoff and, thus, to when seeking alpha is prudent and beneficial for savers, and when it is not. This Article begins to fill that gap by making two contributions. First, we provide the first benchmark estimates of how much alpha is required before ordinary investors would be better off departing from the consensus. For example, we estimate that a person of average risk aversion would annually need to beat the market by (i.e., obtain alpha of) between 6% and 15% before being willing to entirely forego the benefits of diversification and hold an individual stock (and that during a financial crisis such a person would need an annual alpha between 9% and 18%). Second, we consider the implications of our results for the various branches of law governing investment fiduciaries. We propose generally that fiduciaries should prudently weigh these alpha tradeoffs, and then should explain them to their clients before recommending (or executing) investments that deviate from the low-cost, well-diversified, age-appropriate exposure standard. We argue that through new technology, this kind of information can be given to retirement savers and others at quite low cost. Our results also have a variety of more specific applications. For example, our work shows that the value of diversification increases during periods of market upheaval, and therefore the duty of trustees to diversify personal trusts and employee retirement plans should likewise strengthen during such periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop a Medication Adherence Scale for Persons with Coronary Artery Disease (MAS-CAD) based on a nursing perspective. This study was guided by scale development procedures, which consisted of 7 steps: 1) clarifying and determining the concept, 2) generating an item pool, 3) determining the format for measurement, 4) reviewing the initial item pool by 7 professional experts, 5) conducting preliminary item pilot study with 30 Thais with CAD, 6) conducting field-testing for psychometric property testing among 457 Thais with CAD who attended heart clinics of 7 tertiary hospitals in Thailand, and 7) developing scoring and interpretation of the scale scores. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, content validity index, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis by LISREL, and Pearson product moment correlation. The results showed that the MAS-CAD is a self-report instrument, comprised of 5 rating Likert-scale categorical format, composed of 25 items covering 4 constructs; proper knowledge of prescribed medication (7 items), storing medication appropriately (3 items), self-regulating medication administration correctly and continuously (11 items), and participating in the medication treatment plan (4 items). Psychometric property testing demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81, and test-retest reliability was acceptable (r = .62, p < .01). Construct validity was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. In conclusion, the MAS-CAD is a reliable and valid instrument. Nurses can use this scale as a tool for assessing medication adherence for persons with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The symptoms and functional defects following treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) have been poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (VHNSS) version 2.0 to identify symptom clusters experienced by patients with HNC as well as assess reliability and sensitivity to change.Materials and Methods: The VHNSS 2.0 questionnaire was completed by 150 patients over three studies. Two studies utilized the survey at multiple time points.Results: Cluster analysis identified ten multi-item clusters and three single items. The internal consistency was good to excellent, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient above 0.90 in five symptom clusters and above 0.70 in remaining clusters. Clusters demonstrated convergent and divergent validity with other measures. Symptom burden was lowest at baseline, peaked at the end of treatment then subsided over the following months.Conclusions: The VHNSS 2.0 is a reliable and valid measure of acute and late toxicities in patients treated for HNC. The tool may be used in research and clinical practice to screen, to evaluate treatments, and to compare side effects of treatment regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the dangers that constantly threatens agricultural sector is soil erosion. The purpose of this study was to investigate and categorize farmers' views on the factors inhibiting the implementation of soil conservation practices in Koohdasht Township, Iran. The study was fulfilled by using descriptive-correlation method. A stratified random sample of 377 farmers was drawn from a population of 19531 farmers in the township, based on Krejcie and Morgan Table for determining sample size from a finite population. The research questionnaire was validated by a panel of faculty members of agricultural extension and education at Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) and found to have sufficient content and face validity. Using a pilot study, internal consistency reliability was demonstrated with satisfactory alpha coefficient (0.73). Descriptive and inferential statistics, i.e., factor analysis, were used to analyze the data. Factor analysis produced four factors: "economic-extension", "ecological-farming", "social-structural", and "organizational-management" which accounted for 49% of the total variance. The factors that emerged suggest the need for some executive measures to overcome the problems inhibiting the implementation of soil conservation practices in future programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Most of the EBP measuring instruments available to date present limitations both in the operationalisation of the construct and also in the rigour of their psychometric development, as revealed in the literature review performed. The aim of this paper is to provide rigorous and adequate reliability and validity evidence of the scores of a new transdisciplinary psychometric tool, the Health Sciences Evidence-Based Practice (HS-EBP), for measuring the construct EBP in Health Sciences professionals. Methods: A pilot study and a subsequent two-stage validation test sample were conducted to progressively refine the instrument until a reduced 60-item version with a five-factor latent structure. Reliability was analysed through both Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and intraclass correlations (ICC). Latent structure was contrasted using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) following a model comparison aproach. Evidence of criterion validity of the scores obtained was achieved by considering attitudinal resistance to change, burnout, and quality of professional life as criterion variables; while convergent validity was assessed using the Spanish version of the Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (EBPQ-19). Results: Adequate evidence of both reliability and ICC was obtained for the five dimensions of the questionnaire. According to the CFA model comparison, the best fit corresponded to the five-factor model (RMSEA = 0.049; CI 90% RMSEA = [0.047; 0.050]; CFI = 0.99). Adequate criterion and convergent validity evidence was also provided. Finally, the HS-EBP showed the capability to find differences between EBP training levels as an important evidence of decision validity. Conclusions: Reliability and validity evidence obtained regarding the HS-EBP confirm the adequate operationalisation of the EBP construct as a process put into practice to respond to every clinical situation arising in the daily practice of professionals in health sciences (transprofessional). The tool could be useful for EBP individual assessment and for evaluating the impact of specific interventions to improve EBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a Spanish version of the short Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT-30) scale, measuring risk-taking behavior, risk perception, and expected beneficial consequences (from taking risks) in five life domains: ethics, finance, health/security, recreational, and social decisions. Method: The scale was back-translated, and administered online to 826 participants. Validity evidence was tested using correlations with construct-related instruments (UPPS-P and SSS-V), as well as using factor analysis. Internal consistency reliability was calculated with the ordinal Alpha coefficient, and gender differences were considered. Results: Internal consistency was good, and factor analysis confirmed the five factors proposed by the authors. With respect to the external validity, high correlations with the positive urgency and the sensation seeking subscales of the UPPS-P, as well as with the thrill and adventure seeking and disinhibition subscales of the SSS-V were found. Finally, gender differences were found in all subscales and domains, with men tending to take more risks, perceive less risk and expect more beneficial consequences, except for the social domain where an inverse pattern was found. Conclusions: As these findings are in line with the original version, they indicate the scale was successfully adapted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the Active Listening Attitude Scale (ALAS) validity and reliability in a sample of 3955 Greek educators. The sample was randomly split and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the even subsample to evaluate the scale's construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed in the odd subsample to confirm the three-factor model identified by the EFA. The chi square test (X2) of the model was significant (p < 0.05), due to the large sample size. The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the comparative fit index (CFI) and the goodness of fit index (GFI) values were 0.079, 0.969 and 0.960, respectively, further supporting the fit of the three-factor model. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to test internal consistency reliability and was satisfactory exceeding 0.72 for ALAS subscales. The intercorrelations of the three subscales were all positive and significant (p < 0.001), ranging from 0.20 to 0.42. Student's t-tests and the computation of effect sizes revealed that women scored higher on Listening Skill and Conversation Opportunity, while principals and participants trained on mental health promotion scored higher on all three subscales. The analyses confirmed the three-factor model of ALAS and demonstrated its validity and reliability in measuring Greek teachers' active listening attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences is the property of Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this paper is to report evidence of psychometric properties of two Bicultural Attitude Scales (BASs) developed by the author. The paper provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the two versions of the BAS (i.e., Parents version and Children versions) based on two studies. The first study was conducted on a sample of 66 Bangladeshi immigrant parents (33 mothers and 33 fathers) living in the USA. The measuring instrument was the Parents version of the BAS. Results showed a high factorial validity structure of the scale-the values ranged from .62 to .96-and high internal consistency reliability of the scale-the alpha coefficient was .80. The second study was conducted on a 412 Bangladeshi ethnic minority young adults (40 % women and 60 % men). Children version of the BAS was used in this study. The study revealed significantly high factorial validity-factor loading values ranged from .34 to .65-and a significantly high internal consistency reliability of the scale-the alpha coefficient was .86. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cronbach's alpha is an estimate of the reliability of a test score if the items are essentially tau-equivalent. Several authors have derived results that provide alternative interpretations of alpha. These interpretations are also valid if essential tau-equivalency does not hold. For example, alpha is the mean of all split-half reliabilities if the test is split into two halves that are equal in size. This note presents several connections between Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman-Brown formula. The results provide new interpretations of Cronbach's alpha, the stepped down alpha, and standardized alpha, that are also valid in the case that essential tau-equivalency or parallel equivalency do not hold. The main result is that the stepped down alpha is a weighted average of the alphas of all subtests of a specific size, where the weights are the denominators of the subtest alphas. Thus, the stepped down alpha can be interpreted as an average subtest alpha. Furthermore, we may calculate the stepped down alpha without using the Spearman-Brown formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Scales can be used to determine the cause of constipation which is one of the gastrointestinal symptoms. In this study; our aim was to perform reliability study of the Turkish version of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Constipation Scale. Materiel and Methods: The Constipation scale was translated into Turkish by three researchers, and a consensus meeting was held after the translation process. The Turkish text on which the researchers agreed was translated into English by an independent professional translator. The researchers decided that there was no difference between the translated English text and the source text after they compared the two texts in terms of meaning and comprehensibility. As a result of this process, the researchers obtained the final version on which they agreed and the accuracy of which was proved by back translation. Results: A total of 63 patients took part in this study. 32 of them (50.8%) were male, 31 of them (49.2%) were female. mean age of participants was 40,25±16,18 years. Mean questionnaire score was 11,38 ± 2,95. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.758 for 9 scale question. Discussion: This study shows that Turkish version of PROMIS-Constipation scale is reliable. We believe that this scale may be used for the objective assessment of patients with constipation in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education (JTPE) / Eğitimde Kuram ve Uygulama is the property of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: If an institute is looking for improvement of its learning environment, a reliable and valid assessment tool is needed for measurement of the educational environment .The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) has been used in various studies to evaluate the educational environment. However, psychometric evaluations of the instrument seem necessary, for all known versions of the instrument. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of Persian version of the DREEM in the major clinical wards in teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive - analytical study, involved medical students (clinical stagers and interns) in 4 major clinical wards. In this study, DREEM questionnaire was reviewed in content, face validity and construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability was calculated according to test - retest and the internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: A total number of 267 questionnaires were completed by medical stagers (60%) and interns (40%) including 181 females and 82 males. The mean age of stagers and interns were 23.60 ‡ 1.27 and 25.45 ‡ 1.22 years, respectively. The total mean of the questionnaire was calculated as 96.15 (93.5375, 98.7547) out of 176, with 95% confidence interval. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed. The mean of content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated as 0.35, and 6 questions were omitted in this step. The content validity index (CVI) was 0.39. The reliability coefficient mean was 0.71. In confirmatory factor analysis five factors were confirmed that changed the orientation of some questions. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the whole questionnaire was obtained as 0.914. Conclusion: The modified and validates DREEM questionnaire in Persian language with 44 items and appropriate psychometric attributes is capable of being used in assessment of clinical education environments in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of alpha and beta in context of active and passive fund management. It describes that Alpha is a measure of a fund's risk adjusted return and is calculated by measuring the difference between a fund's actual returns and its expected performance given its level of market risk as measured by beta. It analyzes this phenomenon through insights from behavior finance and suggests some public policy responses to market failure issues.

Abstract: Objectives: This study aims at providing meta-analytically derived information on the reliability of test scores obtained with the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ). The following research questions are addressed: (1) What is the mean internal consistency reliability (coefficient Alpha) of PSDQ scores across studies to date? (2) Which factors influence the reliability estimates? Design: We conduct an extensive literature search for studies using the PSDQ in relevant databases. Overall, 49 studies using either the whole PSDQ or a selection of PSDQ subscales are analyzed. Methods: We use the technique of reliability generalization (RG) to pool internal consistency estimates from extant applications of the PSDQ. Moderator analyses are carried out to identify the impact of selected study variables on the reliability estimates. We use a total of six moderator categories (original vs. translated version, complete test vs. selected subscale(s), gender composition of the sample, age group, sample size, and year of publication). Results: 54.4% of the studies analyzed report reliability data for the sample at hand. Mean reliability estimates within all subscales are above α = .8, with the subscale Health presenting the lowest mean reliability estimate at α = .823 and the subscale Body fat the highest at α = .943. The moderator analyses reveal influences of moderators on distinct PSDQ scales. Conclusion: Overall, the PSDQ accomplishes good internal consistency based on the extant empirical evidence. Most importantly, however, the moderator analyses show clear evidence of a reduction in the reliability coefficients due to using a translated questionnaire version. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this research is to determine the reflective thinking tendencies of Turkish language teachers. The study group of the research is consisted of randomly selected 96 Turkish Language teachers working in the province and county centers of Erzurum. As a measuring tool, "Reflective Thinking Tendency" Scale prepared by Semerci (2007) was used. Likert type scale includes seven factors and 35 articles. Cronbach Alpha coefficient is 0.908. The research was conducted in a descriptive style; the results are stated as frequencies and percentages. As a result of the research (SPSS 8), it was revealed that Turkish Language teachers have reflective thinking tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies indicate that patients with depression have increased concentrations of serum pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, studies of IL-17 and studies on community-dwellers are few. The purpose of this study was to investigate serum cytokine levels, especially IL-17A, among subjects with high and low depressive symptoms of a general population. The participants comprised 20 female community-dwellers aged 40 years or older who contributed to a Shika study in Ishikawa, Japan. Ten participants who showed higher and ten who showed lower depressive symptoms among 208 females assessed by the Japanese version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were selected for this study. Serum samples were analyzed for TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-17A using a multiplex Luminex analysis. For the comparison between the high and low depressive groups statistically, linear regression analyses were applied. The serum level of IL-17A was significantly higher among the high depressive participants (p < 0.05) even after controlling possible confounders, whereas there were no differences in TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10, or IL-12 between the high and low depressive groups. Our findings supported an association between serum IL-17A levels and depressive symptoms. Peripheral IL-17A immune response may be a preventive and treatment target for depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]